This morning Mark and I were washing bicycles outside the Activity Center and at 11:30 Mark was suddenly hit with dizziness.  I thought he had low blood sugar, so when we went home for lunch I made a big lunch for him.  It didn’t help.

I left him lying down while I went back to put the bicycles back in the Activity Center, and while I was there Melanie came down so I told her what was going on.  She took me back home and told me to get Mark to a doctor.

I first took him to Gore’s doctor, Dr. Anderson.  He listened to Mark’s description of how the dizziness came on and he said Mark needed a CAT scan or an MRI, neither of which he was equipped for.  He suggested we go on to the VA in Muskogee.

We got to the VA around 3:45 and I had someone bring a wheelchair out to get Mark.  By this time I had learned that Mark was seeing double and his vision was blurry.  I had developed a migraine as I was driving to Muskogee, and my first order of business was to try to get a can of caffeine, I mean pop, out of a vending machine.  I couldn’t tell how much money it cost, and there was a janitor nearby and I asked him.  He told me how to find the price, and I wasn’t sure I had enough money, so he gave me what change he had.  I got a Dr. Pepper and took a couple migraine strength Exedrine and my headache began to clear up.

When we were called into the triage room, I had trouble maneuvering the wheelchair through the door, and the motion made Mark sick.  The triage nurse decided to get Mark into the ER where he could lie down and be more comfortable.

Sometime after we were taken to the ER room, a nurse came in and took blood samples from Mark.  About an hour or two later they came in and told us that the lab work came back normal.  Around 7:00 they wheeled Mark out to do a CAT scan.

By this time my blood sugar had dropped.  I went back out to the vending machine and they had one with food in it, but the sign said it took exact change only.  I had a $20 bill, so I went to the receptionist and asked if she had change for a $20.  She said she didn’t.  I explained that I was getting low blood sugar and she could see my hands were shaking badly, so she went and got what change she had and told me to sit down in the waiting room.  She asked what I wanted and I said I had seen some tuna and crackers in the machine so she went and got me the package.  In the meantime, a patient who was there with his wife and little girl heard what was happening and he bought me another package of tuna and crackers.  I thanked them and the receptionist and gratefully ate.

By the time I was able to go back into the ER, Mark had been wheeled back in.  Just as he was returning he got sick again, so they gave him a medication for nausea and put him on a drip IV to rebuild his fluids.

Around 9:30 the doctor came in and told him that his CAT scan also came back normal.  She checked his ears and said one maybe a little red, so she prescribed an antibiotic just in case he has an inner ear infection.  She also prescribed more of the anti-nausea medication they gave him.  Mark told her he’s had tinnitis for a long time, and she said that sometimes people who have that will develop symptoms like Mark’s and then they lose their hearing.  She said she’d set him up with an ENT specialist.  Also, because Mark’s hand surgery was supposed to be the day after tomorrow, she said she’d contact the hand doctor and let him know that he might have to reschedule.  Finally she said she’d send a note to Mark’s primary physician about what happened today.  After Mark’s prescriptions arrived and his IV finished, he was released to come home.

Mark is still dizzy and walks with some difficulty, but his vision has cleared up.  Please be praying for him (and for me) as we wait to get some answers.